The new news 24 thread

[drum]

Today I've mostly been moving series Land Rover engines to the Land Rover cave.

Along with two fuel tanks, two tail gates, a cat flap, four 7.50 tyres and two maestro wings. All in one load in the 109. Good job it's got the aeon spring assistors.

 

i can actually get in the garage now without mountaineering.

[Lord Sterling]

Spent the day driving various cars around an industrial estate, these included but are not limited to; MG ZT 2.5 V6 auto, MG ZS/ZR, 1995 Rover 214 SEi, 1995 Rover 214 Cabrio and some other unmemorable tat. All these cars belong to Steve "Tin Worm" Tolkien who has, through a lot of convincing has finally got me to take pics of these cars and advertise them for him. I have done that now so whatever sells, I get a cut of. (I know a few shiters here convinced me not to bother, but hey, I said I'd at least give it try...)

 

It's not too bad and I do get to drive about in some awful cars. All of which are better than mine, particularly the MG ZT and '95 Rover 214 SEi.

 

I might start a thread chucking up some of these cars if shiters don't mind. This (rather eccentric) chap has got PILES of 60s/70s and 80s shite and parts laying about in various units, he even has a couple of P6 (2000s, not V8s) a tidy, low mileage Marina, Allegros, a couple of 2CVs and 2 of those 4x4 Lada things, one of them is a cabrio too and it's for sale...

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Tin Worm Tolkien is a great name, I like the guy already

[garycox]

Haven't had a fleet update for a while, nothing particularly interesting has happened though.

 

OUT

 

1989 Volvo 740 GLE 2.3 Auto Estate by GaryCox, on Flickr

 

The ex-Sigmund Fraud Volvo 740 GLE went to Scotland with cms206, the first car I've sold while being 200 miles away from it. I miss it, but thought it'd need a load of work to get through an MOT. I think it did need quite a bit, but less than I expected. WOULD OWN AGAIN.

 

FOR SALE

 

Untitled by GaryCox, on Flickr

 

Thread here: http://autoshite.com/topic/18382-1989-ford-escort-mk4-14l-%C2%A3300/

 

1991 Nissan Micra 1.0 LS by GaryCox, on Flickr

 

This is still hanging about with no actual purpose, it's in good condition and MOTd for quite a while but something to do with the gear selector has broken and I haven't had the time/motivation to look at it.

 

Untitled by GaryCox, on Flickr

 

Thread (with slightly optimistic pricing strategy) here: http://autoshite.com/topic/18250-rare-opportunity-to-purchase-appreciating-classic-beige-bl-tat/?do=findComment&comment=637267

 

Sensible offers invited on all of those.

 

IN

 

Untitled by GaryCox, on Flickr

 

This came to replace the Escort, has been pretty good but it has a few annoying faults which mean it might be for sale again soon.

 

Untitled by GaryCox, on Flickr

 

And this has replaced the 740, not really what I was looking for but it was too cheap to refuse, runs on Tesco sunflower oil and has been reliable so far. MOT in December will decide its fate (assuing the noisy gearbox lasts until then).

[The Moog]

If you end up binning off the 405 I might be interested in it.

[Jim Bergerac]

I might start a thread chucking up some of these cars if shiters don't mind. This (rather eccentric) chap has got PILES of 60s/70s and 80s shite and parts laying about in various units, he even has a couple of P6 (2000s, not V8s) a tidy, low mileage Marina, Allegros, a couple of 2CVs and 2 of those 4x4 Lada things, one of them is a cabrio too and it's for sale...

 

Please do! Would love to see some of it.

[dugong]

480 could be a winner* if the price is right.

[saucedoctor]

Headlight washers sorted. Bad connection. The tank is under the front bumper, but can be got at by removing the OSF wheelarch liner.

 

Getting the pump right out is a bumper off job.

 

1. Headlight washer pump

2. Float (turns on low fluid lamp on dash)

3. Screenwasher pump.

 

 

[tooSavvy]

... who'd have guessed 3 would be at the bottom?

 

Ok. Ok. OK. ...Someone thort putting it in the middle would avoid picking up crudd.

 

 

TS

[cms206]

The Volvo was about £200 to get through a test... Still waiting on the new heater matrix coming from DAVE_SVM to get it bang on for the winter.

 

That Escort is seriously giving me the horn. So much want

[dave21478]

Had a really pleasant day working on the Land Rover today.

 

I left it a couple of weeks back with the engine out on the floor to replace the clutch.

 

The new clutch kit and solid flywheel turned up a few days ago from a local online supplier. I had also ordered driveshaft oil seals and the funky-sized o-ring that seals between gearbox and transfer box from Britparts and the bloody parcel had gone missing. Nobody knew where it was and the online tracking said it had been left with my neighbours but the signed name wasnt anyone nearby. with help from Britparts it was traced to the local post office, which has recently closed down and the parcel was being held at the mayors office. I was collared by the harridan that works there last week and picked it up then.

 

So, on went the flywheel and clutch kit - no problems there. I then bunged the gearbox onto the engine which was heavy but slipped on ok. The transfer box has been problematic since I bought the car as the threads in the filler plug hole were stripped and it leaked. I kept topping it up and just bodging the filler back in with instant gasket or silicone or whatever I could get my hands on, but while it was off had a better crack at it. A prolonged skoosh from a tin of brake cleaner cleaned up the hole and I mixed up a wee bit of chemical metal which I smeared around the edge of the hole. I covered the plug threads with clean grease and screwed it into the wet chemical metal....not tight, just by hand. Once set, the plug unscrewed easily and left nice clean threads. When I refilled it this evening, I didnt wang it up really tight as I dont know how strong it will be, but its a million times better than it was.

 

The gearchange had always been looser than a cheap hoors knicker elastic, so while it was all out I looked at the linkages and balljoints which were pretty worn. The worst was a pin on the gearbox which transmits the levers side to side movement to the selector shaft sticking out the box. I knocked the pin out and it was really worn so found a bit of 9mm steel rod and drilled the holes larger to suit and knocked it into place. Its loads better now.

 

Anyway, with the t/box on, I scooted the engine under the shell, lowered the shell using the engine hoist and a strap on the chassis rails, then lifted the engine the last 18 inches up to meet the engine mounts.

One of the bolts on the L/H mount stripped its threads too, but no biggie as its easily accessible. A while back I bought a cheap helicoil kit from ebay which covers M6 up to M14, and its been a real boon....not the kind of thing you use a lot, but you are bloody glad to have it when you need it! Drilled the hole, tapped the thread, screwed in the insert and then the original bolt went in nicely.

 

After that it was just plugging the dozens of hoses, pipes and wires back together. All went well, and I have no wee bolts, clips or other bits left over.

I couldnt start it as the battery is flat and the car is surrounded by mountains of tat so no way to get another car near enough to jump and I couldnt be harrised dragging a battery out of something else, so I left it on charge and will get it running tomorrow. The first time I pressed the clutch pedal it just dropped straight to the floor and didnt spring back. Rather than set fire to everything then hang myself, I bled the allegedly pre-filled hydraulics which allegedly shouldnt need bled and it seems to be ok....pedal is nice and light.

 

 

Sense of achievement......check.

 

 

[320touring]

Aff mah tits on blackboard paint:)

[Shep Shepherd]

Just won a barely used 1990s Blaupunkt 'Canberra' head unit like this one on eBay for a trifling £15:

 

 

It will go nicely in one of the Volvos, most likely The Wentworth, as it would be nice to have a stereo with RDS and CD changer compatibility fitted to it.

[richardmorris]

what search terms do you use to look for radios? I've been looking for a blaupunkt to go in the merc. but only seem to get ones in the USA.

[dugong]

what search terms do you use to look for radios? I've been looking for a blaupunkt to go in the merc. but only seem to get ones in the USA.

'Old head unit' / 'Blaupunkt head unit' normally work for me....

[Shep Shepherd]

^

Same here

 

At the moment there are loads of nice old Blaupunkt head units on eBay being offered by sellers in the UK

[Richard]

Isn't the standard stereo RDS and changer compatible? The one in my 940 was.

[ruffgeezer]

I think we have some NOS Blaupunkt at work all from the early 90s or earlier if anyone is interested?

[Pillock]

I'm interested!

[Shep Shepherd]

Isn't the standard stereo RDS and changer compatible? The one in my 940 was.

 

The Wentworth is a 1992 model, so it has a non-RDS stereo from the factory, most likely one of the last RWD Volvos to do so. I have no idea if it is CD changer compatible.

[stuboy]

Brake pipe failed on the rover 75, luckily his wife was driving it very near there home, so we towed it to friends house garage to be repaired..

Dam there heavy motor to drag..

[stuboy]

huh, GP up here is different to what I'm used to.  Friendly, approachable, and reckons I could have a B12 deficiency so they need to steal some of my precious blood just as soon as I work up the courage to actually let them stick needles in me. ?

Do it...

 

I'm on b12 tablets daily

[phil_lihp]

I can't pretend to have fully understood the whole article but this is quite clever thinking.

 

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/10/19/crawling_from_the_wreckage_essay_making_cars_more_fuel_efficient/

 

Not what you'd normally expect from an IT news site but they do occasionally test out electric cars.  First time an XJS has appeared in one of their articles though.

[320touring]

I can't pretend to have fully understood the whole article but this is quite clever thinking.

 

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/10/19/crawling_from_the_wreckage_essay_making_cars_more_fuel_efficient/

 

Not what you'd normally expect from an IT news site but they do occasionally test out electric cars. First time an XJS has appeared in one of their articles though.

I've had a swing at that malarky-worthwhile if you have the patience and do lots of miles.

 

Also easy to track when the car has something wrong as fuel logs show changes.

 

Now i just have the most fun i can-cos driving is only for fun now:)

[dave21478]

If my leg joints were capable of it, I would kick myself in the nuts and it would be fully deserved.

 

So after yesterdays Land Rover reassembly I went to start it today after charging the battery overnight. Would it start? No, no it wouldnt.

 

It span on the starter happily enough but not a hint of firing. 

 

Merde, I had obviously forgotten something, so I hunted around the engine bay looking for wayward connectors, but all seemed well. 

I then turned my eye to the fuel lines as there is a real birds-nest of pipes that I disconnected. It all seemed correct and no other combinations were possible without straining the pipes, so I assumed it was good....

 

The central locking was a bit wierd too, as every time I turned the ignition on or off, it would try to unlock the door, so I thought perhaps there was an immobiliser problem. So lots of arming and disarming of the alarm and faffin with doors etc got me nowhere.

 

By this time I had run the battery flat again with trying to start it, so had the clip two sets of jump leads together to be able to reach another car.

 

I then realised that with the ignition on, I could not hear the electric lift pumps running. So I set about them, tapping and cajoling to no effect. I ran wires direct to the battery and they worked so were not seized. I was at a loss.

 

I had been at it for two hours by this point and was really, really pissed off. I stomped back to the house in a huff and dragged out the Haynes manual and had a flick through, looking for stuff about the immobiliser, fuel pumps, priming the system etc etc, and then I caught a glimpse of a photo as I flicked through the book. It was at this point I deserved the kick in the nuts as I immediately realised what it would be.

I stomped back to the barn and pressed the reset button on top of the fuel cutoff switch and it fired up first time.

 

Bloody hell - I had removed the switch to fit the replacement clutch master cylinder, and refitted it without pressing the reset. Since it had been flapping about on the end of its wiring, it had obviously tripped out. In fact I had explained to my brother in law yesterday what it was for and how it worked!

 

What a div.

[richardmorris]

I think we have some NOS Blaupunkt at work all from the early 90s or earlier if anyone is interested?

 

 

I'm interested!

[Wackeldackel]

http://s603.photobucket.com/user/oioisonnyboy/library/Classic%20Remise%20Berlin

 

Went to a mercedes youngtimer meeting yesterday in Berlin. My old W124 was the scruffiest car there with a primered wing and rust bubbling on the arches. I was also the youngest there by about 30 years, and also the only one who works on their car themself. The others were all talking about which workshops they use, and seemed to be there more to eat the brunch, listen to the jazz singer and band and drink the champagne than talk about the cars. Thank frig I put on a clean shirt. I suppose that's what to expect for buying a traditionally giffer oriented car. Not my idea of a car club meeting at all but was nice to do something different on a sunday.

 

The venue was the classic remise in Berlin, a museum and workshop for unusual old stuff. Members of the public rent workshop space there to restore and maintain their old cars. There's also some historic vehicle dealers (frigging expensive) and some seriously nice stuff to look at. The pics are in the link above if anyone wants to look and they include some of the following

 

*peugeot 604 with the brownest of brown velour interiors

*ford taunus estate 1.6 povo spec

*fiat 130

*daimler double 6

*mercedes 600 grosser

*Peugeot 505gl which is used as a workshop courtesy car by the looks of it

*Peugeot 504

*stripped out citroen H van

*volvo p145 torslanda for shep shepherd and any other volvo botherers.

[jonathan_dyane]

It took me a little while to twig that the Rover is on a towpole! i was wondering how that worked...

[AlabamaShrimp]

Mechanic tutor just bought this for £5000 and brought it in.

 

I've never seen so many people coming over for a nosy or asking what it is

 

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Managed to get back on here after a months absence caused by computer ineptness and desperate searching for a new work car.

There's a lot of expensive shit out there being sold by fake private sellers, I'd also estimate that 75% of '08/09 Mercs and BMWs are Cat D or C,WTF?

I went to Manchester to look at a CLS that didn't drive as well and I wouldn't have swapped the ex-Angry Rover of Zoom for. Incidentally this has just gained 6 months tax and gave sterling service during my car hunting after the Ambulance chasers Merc went back, why can't I just license that for work? It's got leather, that makes it more 'executive' than an Artico (plastic) trimmed £10,000 E Class.

I'd much rather deal with fellow chod fiddlers, I think part of why I finally got the car I have (525d estate) is that the seller was clearing out his crap into a nasty Passat estate when I arrived and was only selling because he had run out of money on his house rebuild.

Anyway ,I see not much has changed around here, DW has only had one change of car, for fucks sake, more effort needed, this place is what it was.....